DEATH OF MINISTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25068, 9 November 1942, Page 2

DEATH OF MINISTER

MR H. T. ARMSTRONG CAREER AS LABOUR LEADER CP.A.) WELLINGTON, Nov. 8. The death occurred just before 8 o'clock to-night of the Minister ot Public Works, Mr H. T. Armstrong. Members of his family, the Prime Minister (Mr P. Fraser), the Minister of Labour (Mr P. C. Webb), and his private secretary (Mr J. W. Nissen) were at his bedside when he passed away.

Mr Armstrong will be accorded a State funeral. A service will be held

in Wellington on Wednesday at a time to be announced, and the funeral will take place in Christchurch on Thursday.

A LIFE OF SERVICE PRIME MINISTER’S TRIBUTE (F.0.P.H.) WELLINGTON, Nov. 8. “The deep regret felt by the members of the Cabinet and his parliamentary colleagues at the passing of Mr Armstrong, their valued and esteemed colleague, will, be shared by all who knew him and by the people of New Zealand generally,” said the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, to-night. Mr Fraser said that as Minister of Labour in the first Labour Government Mr Armstrong was able to carry into operation proposals which he had long advocated. His name would always be associated with the 40-hour week, for which he, as Minister of Labour, was primarily responsible. “ Mr Armstrong,” the Prime Minister said, “literally died in harness. He expended the last ounce of energy in his life to the service of his country. His last illness, which was to prove fatal, was induced by a visit to Auckland to inspect personally and discuss defence constructions and housing proposals. There was never a more devoted, sincere, or honest man in the public life of the Dominion. He was held in high esteem and respect by political opponents as well as friends. His life was one of service to the people he loved and who now mourn his loss. His thoughts were for them unto the end.”

Mr Hubert Thomas Armstrong, who had represented Christchurch East in Parliament since 1922, was born at Bulls, near Palmerston North, in 1875. After passing through the public school in that town, he began life in the flax-milling industry in Rangitlkel, and was a bushman at 16 years of age. He was succeedingly a goldminer, coal miner, railway construction worker, waterside worker and brickyard employee. When he was a young man he was president of the Waihi Miners and Workers’ Union, at that time the largest organisation of its kind in New Zealand. Among the offices he held during his life were the following:—Vice-president of the first New Zealand Federation of Miners, first vice-president of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, general secretary of the West Coast Workers’ Union (a position he held for five years), and vicepresident of the New Zealand Labour Party. In 1919 he was appointed secretary of the Christchurch Tramways Employees’ Union, resigning on his election to Parliament in 1922. He was a member of the Waihi Borough Council from 1907 to 1909, and a member of the first Borough Council at Runanga, West Coast. He was also a member of the Lyttelton Harbour Board and the Christchurch City Council.

Mr Armstrong first contested a parliamentary election in 1908 when he was a candidate for the Ohinemuri seat. He made another unsuccessful attempt to enter Parliament when he stood for Christchurch North in 1919. After his election as member for Christchurch East in 1922, he became one of the staunchest fighters in the House in the interests of the Labour Party. When the party, led by Mr M. J. Savage, secured a substantial majority at the 1935 elections, Mr Armstrong was selected as Minister of Labour in the first Labour Government. Other important portfolios he had held in Cabinet reshuffles since then were Housing, State Advances, Health, and Public Works.